Highlights

TITLE IV-E MSW STUDENT OF THE YEAR

In May, the Title IV-E faculty and staff held an end of the year celebration for our graduating Title IV-E students. At the celebration, we announced the two winners of the Outstanding MSW Student of the Year Award: Dilip Vaidyanathan and MacKenzie Cooke. Although these students are quite different from one another, both were exemplary of the Title IV-E mission by having shown an outstanding level of proficiency, initiative, and commitment to the highest standards of social work practice in their public child welfare field placements.

The 2016 Maryland Child Welfare Performance Indicators is a legislatively mandated report through Senate Bill 567 (cross filed with House Bill 643) was passed and signed into law in 2015. This bill requires the Department of Human Resources, Social Services Administration (DHR/SSA) to provide a report to the General Assembly by December 1st of each year. The following eleven questions are required to be provided and broken out by jurisdiction, race, gender and age.

(1) The number of child abuse and neglect reports, alternative responses, investigative responses, and findings for completed investigations;(2) The number of children receiving in-home services;(3) The number of new out-of-home placements by placement type;(4) The number of exits from the child welfare system by exit type;(5) The number of exits to reunification and reentries within 12 months after exit;(6) The number of exits to reunification and reentries within 24 months after exit;(7) The stability of out-of-home placements, including the number of placement changes;(8) The stability of school placements;(9) The number who graduate from high school;(10) The number who qualify for a Maryland high school diploma by examination; and(11) The number who receive tuition waivers The Child Welfare Accountability group within the Ruth Young Center developed the child welfare data indicators in partnership with the Department of Human Resources, Social Services Administration.

UM School of Social Work Gains $2.5 Million Grant to Address Human Trafficking of Maryland’s Youth

Dr. Nadine Finnigan a faculty member at the Ruth Young Center for Families and Children at the University of Maryland School of Social Work (SSW) has been awarded a three-year, $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime to improve statewide coordination and multi-disciplinary collaboration in responding to human trafficking involving children and youth. The full press release can be found here

An Examination of Reentry into State Sponsored Out of Home Care after Reunification in Maryland Report released

The Maryland Department of Human Resources/Social Services Administration partnered with the University of Maryland, School of Social Work, to examine foster care reentries. A multi-step process was designed in order to maximize the sources of information available and fully utilize the expertise within the state. This included:

· A comprehensive literature review on factors that lead to foster care reentry;

· Interviews with administrators from other states who have reentry rates lower than Maryland;

· A survey with caseworkers who have had experience with reunifications and reentries;

National Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare (NCEBPCW) News

Director of the NCEBPCW Receives Committee AppointmentLeslie Rozeff, MSSW, Clinical Instructor and Director of the National Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare, was named to the Council on Accreditation’s Public Child Welfare Agency Advisory Committee. The Committee's input will steer the strategic focus of Public Child Welfare Agency Accreditation and help to shape COA’s partnerships with other stakeholders in order to increase their collective impact on the lives of vulnerable children and families through systems improvement for state-administered child and family-serving agencies.

Rozeff and Kerns to Present at the 22nd Annual Children's Behavioral Health Conference on April 2, 2015 in OKLeslie Rozeff and Sue Kerns, both with the National Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Child Welfare, will be co-presenting “Partnering for Success: Enhancing the child welfare and children’s behavioral health workforce through the implementation of CBT+” at the 22nd Annual Children’s Behavioral Health Conference on April 2, 2015 in Oklahoma City.

Title IV-E Education for Public Child Welfare Program Receives Funding Award for FY 15

The School of Social Work has received funding in the amount of $1,665,293 for FY 15 from the Maryland Department of Human Resources to educate up to 55 MSW students and prepare them to practice in Maryland’s Public Child Welfare System after graduation. Students will be comprised of 18 current DHR employees who have been admitted to the school’s MSW program, and 37 MSW students who are preparing for a career in child welfare and have agreed to accept employment in Maryland’s Local Departments of Social Services after graduation. In addition, the School will administer sub-contracts for Title IV-E Education for 9 BSW students at UMBC, and 10 MSW students enrolled at Morgan State University’s MSW program and 8 students enrolled in Salisbury University’s MSW Program. The Title IV-E Program offers a financial stipend to assist with tuition and books and a specialized MSW educational experience for MSW and BSW students resulting in achievement of skill and knowledge competencies in Social Work practice in Child Welfare, including training in Motivational Interviewing and collaboration with Family Connections Baltimore for field education and training in Trauma Informed Child Welfare Practice.

Supervision Matters 2015 Final Celebration

On Friday, June 5th, the beautiful T. Sue Gladhill Boardroom was the site of a celebration culminating the 2014-15 Supervision Matters program, a partnership between the Department of Human Resources and the Child Welfare Academy at the School of Social Work. Over the course of several months, new child welfare supervisors from around the state join together to enhance their supervisory, management and leadership skills, with the goal of strengthening the child welfare workforce and increasing positive outcomes for MD children and families. Through networking and sharing their experiences, participants often form bonds that are carried with them throughout their careers. The celebration event was an opportunity to recognize the hard work of the supervisors who participated and to honor their growth and commitment. Additionally, thanks was extended to their own administrators who supported them throughout the training program. Supervisors, administrators and guests were welcomed by Karen Powell, Training Manager at the Department of Human Resources/Social Services Administration. Other DHR/SSA speakers included Tracey Paliath, Deputy Secretary for Programs and Deborah Ramelmeier, Executive Director. CWA Trainers Frances Williams Crawford and Elisa Medina, consultant Marsha Salus, Worcester County Department of Social Services Director Roberta Baldwin and Senior Director for Strategic Consulting at Casey Family, Paul DiLorenzo offered their reflections, encouragement and thanks. Participants received a beautiful certificate and were treated to a catered lunch.

“The things I have learned from the Supervision Matters training have really helped me transition into a new role as a supervisor. The recognition was very appreciated and again, I just wanted to extend my gratitude for all of your efforts.” – participant